Rugby World Cup '11 - Simple Guide

One of the things I love the most is Rugby. The Rugby World Cup is coming up in less than a month away and I'm a little excited to say the least.

This year the Rugby World Cup is being held in New Zealand, which could make it a little bit of a white wash for the home team as they have been unstoppable this year and maintained themselves as the best team in the world for the last couple of years.

My team is England and coming of a win in 2003 and runners up in 2007, we've got a good chance of getting to the final again this year. Either way I'll be watching all of the matches of Sky+ as they are being played during the night.

A lot of people don't like Rugby, they think it is too complicated. I disagree, there are a few fundamental things that anyone can learn about the game to make it more enjoyable. There are a few of these things that I have picked up over the years, and here they are.

Offside
Offside is not the same as offside in football. Offside in rugby is all about being behind or parallel with the ball.

Example:

Team A are attacking and team B are defending.

If there has been some intense play in the middle of the field and players from either side as strewn all over that area of the pitch the ball suddenly gets picked up by team A and kicked all the way up field to a player who is by himself by his own posts. This player catches the ball. At this point he is stoof by himself with his back to his own posts and the majority of players in front of him. If he decides to kick the ball up field he is the only player that can then touch the ball from his team, before the opposition touches it. Why? Because all of the players are in front of him and the ball, becoming off side.

Off side is simply be in front of the ball when the ball is played. It is important for players who are part of the game and on the offensive to continue attacking from behind the ball.

If you imagine the ball creating a long line to each side of the pitch (width) wherever the ball may be, this would be the offside line. If the ball moves so does the offside line.

Scoring
Points be scored in three ways on the Rugby field. They are as follows:

Penalty Kick

A penalty kick is worth three points as is simply a kick that successfully sends the bal through the posts at any point during the game. A kick is awarded when a foul occurs. The Penalty kick is worth three points and is not the same as a conversion.

Tip - Keeping possession.

Some of the time tactics come into play. When one of teams has conceded a penalty the other team gets the opportunity to kick the bal through the posts gaining them three valuable points. There is an alternative, which can gain the attacking team more points but is more of a gamble.

Instead if kicking the ball through the posts, the team can opt to kick the ball into 'touch' or across the outside line of the pitch putting the ball out of play.

The great thing about this for the attacking team is that the other team conceded a foul, giving them the penalty, which means when the ball is thrown back in, it is thrown in again by the attacking team because they gained no advantage by kicking the ball out. If the attacking team gets the chance to throw the ball in to their team mates and if they are lucky enough to be near the opposition's line, there is a good chance they will score a try, which is worth five points rather than a conversion which is worth three. They then get the chance to kick for a conversion which could be worth an additional two points, making a total of seven. Sounds better than a crummy three points right??

Try

A try is when the attacking team get the ball over the line which run next to the posts. This is the hardest thing to get in Rugby and is worth five points. A penalty try can be awarded, which is worth the same amount of points.

Conversion

A conversion is similar to a penalty but is a kick which is taken after a try is scored as is worth two points for the attacking team rather than three which is awarded for a penalty kick.

Tip - Getting under the posts.

It is really important for the attacking team to try and score the try as close to the posts as possible. After the try is scored there comes the penalty kick, in short, the further left or right from the posts the try is scored (into each corner) the further away the conversion kick is kicked from. So if the try is scored right in the corner of the pitch near the flag the poor kicker has a far more acute angle to kick the ball through and it's further away so it can be a lot harder.

Drop Goal

A drop goal is awarded three points and is a kick that successfully goes through the posts from open play. The ball must touch the ground first and be made at any point.

Kit number
Similarly to football each team member has an assigned number. Here are the top three most important kit numbers I think you need to know.

No.9 - Scrum Half

Have you ever noticed that it's the same guy who always picks up the ball and throws it after a tackle? This player is called the scrum half. Every time there is a big tackle, or a player on his own team goes to ground, that player on the floor has to release it to the scrum half who offloads the ball and passes it to another member of his team. He can also challenge for the ball after a ball comes out of a scrum called the pocket.

Tip - The 'pocket'

Have you ever seen the ball resting at the feet of a couple of players when they are locked in a scrum? This area of the ground is called the 'pocket'. It's a small area which is neither inside the scrum, nor out of it. It's like a protected area that the defending team can not reach and will be penalised if they do so. As the scrum moves forward (or backwards), if the ball is kept in this area then the ball is protected until it goes outside of the pocket and into open play again. It's more of a judgement call whether the ball is inside the pocket or not, and decisions can go either way.

N0.10 - Fly Half

Jonny Wilkinson. The best fly half the world has ever seen. Biased? No. Just look at the points table and the number of rugby world cups he has competed in before.

The job of the fly half is primarily the kicker. Each time a penalty is conceded by the opposition, this player will kick the ball through the posts. He can also perform a drop goal, which is a kick in open play with the ball bouncing on the floor first before going through the posts.

This player is an integral part to the team and more often than not the one who gets the most points for the team due to the amount of kicks they produce winning points for the team.

The End!

This concludes my little whirl wind tour of rugby and a few pointers and things to look out for, which will hopefully make the game more enjoyable for your to watch. I'll be cheering on England in the Rugby World Cup '11, I hope you gather a bit of national pride and support your team as well. We're less than a month away to the Rugby World cup '11 so keep your ear to the ground and most of all enjoy!

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